First Cross Border Music and dance Festival will be held in Batas on Tuesday 21 of June 2016. The festival that initiated by the Ministry of Tourism of Indonesia will Perform music and dance from Jakarta and Jayapura. Dave solution Band, Tropico Rasta Band, Numbay Band are among Group Band performing. One of the most popular dance Group Sanggar Honai and Sanggar Potred from Jayapura are also taking part to make festival merrier with Firman Siagian and Siti Liza, special Singers from Jakarta who performing during the cross Border Festival .

There will be also comedy performance and Games.

Consul of Indonesia in Vanimo Elmar Iwan Lubis added that the objective of the Festival is to attract tourists in the border region. As part of strategy to achieve the target of 20 million foreign tourists in 2019. By seeing the potential market to be developed for tourists coming from Papua Guinean to Indonesia. "The geographic proximity and cultural similarity have placed PNG particularly Sandaun Province as potential market for us", said Elmar Iwan Lubis.

The Cross Border Festival will be held untill end of December 2016. Every month from now, there will be Music and Dance Festival in Batas that enables every one is freely to come and enjoy the Festival. Youth Band Music from Vanimo is also invited to perform during Festival.

"Border Tourism contributes significantly to the tourism of the country. Some countries in Europe such as the Netherlands, Germany and France each year get an increase in tourist arrivals from neighboring countries bordering directly. So even as Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Based on these examples this year Indonesia began focus on promotion in the border area as an effort to increase visits of tourists from neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Timor Leste and PNG. ​